tilepusher

For the record, the 4* is a match for the Edgewater. I hope you enjoy your trip to Seattle.

Priceline updates in Phoenix, AZ: The Lexington Hotel (Downtown) has been upgraded to 3*. The Sheraton Crescent Hotel (Metrocenter) has been upgraded back to 3.5*. The "Chandler Vicinity" zone is now "Chandler - Gilbert"

Yes, but that's irrelevant. If you're going to bid for a hotel room on PRICELINE, you must be willing to stay at any hotel within Priceline's Downtown Toronto zone. Are you? Judging from retail and HOTWIRE rates for that night, there's almost no chance of getting a room for less than $50. What star-level do you wish to bid at, and what is the maximum you're willing to bid?

Read this post on Priceline Re-bidding Explained; it tells you the proper method of finding your re-bid zones. Let us know if you need further assistance, or if you'd like us to confirm your re-bid zones before you bid.

Bidding more often is probably not going to make a difference that this point, though it might as you get closer to your check-in date; you'll end up spending a lot of time bidding and getting rejected. But if you're okay with that, feel free to bid as often as you like (within the 24 hour rule, of course).

Everyone has been telling you why. You started this topic to ask for assistance on an upcoming trip to Las Vegas in mid-August. Any posts pertaining to this trip should be sent as replies to this thread. Don't start any new topics about this trip!

Again, I agree with Colfax. You should be able to get a 3* hotel in the Convention Center area for less than what you've bid so far, judging by current rates. I recommend that you try the following strategy every few days: Bid $35 for 3* in Convention Center. If rejected, add South Waterfront District and bid $37. If rejected, exit this bid and start a new bid of $40 for 3* Convention Center + Northwest Portland. If rejected, add South Waterfront District and bid $42. Adjust the bid amounts if you'd like to go higher than $42, but given the Doubletree's rate of $80 at Hilton.com, I think your first bid each session should be no more than $37. For now, I wouldn't bid more often than once every three days.

Welcome to BetterBidding, saravanan. Have you done a search on HOTWIRE for this trip? If not, do it now; you'll see that you can't target a particular hotel on Hotwire. If you need a hotel with a kitchen/kitchenette and want to book through Hotwire, all you can do is look for a hotel with a kitchen or kitchenette listed as an amenity. If you find one, give us the parameters of your search (check-in/check-out dates, number of rooms/adults/children) and a complete list of amenities, and we'll try to identify it.

Welcome to BetterBidding, Chris. In the future, don't bother linking to a web page from one of your searches; Hotwire sessions timeout after 30 minutes. The hotel is a match for the Royal Palms. If you decide to book this hotel, please start your purchase from the HOTWIRE link on this site.

My best guess is the Westin Prince. Does this topic pertain to the same stay as your other Toronto thread? If so, please remember in the future to use a single topic for each stay. If you decide to book this hotel, please start your purchase from the HOTWIRE link on this site.

The set of amenities is a match for the Terminal City Club Tower Hotel.

The hotel has not been identified. However, if you change the search parameters to 2 adults/1 child, the 4* hotel in this zone (also $103/night) has the above amenities plus Business, and the following TripAdvisor information: 4.5 rating, 180+ reviews (last reviewed July 2009). This is a match for the Metropolitan Hotel. The hotel in your original search is likely the same, but it might not be. If you'd like to try to stay at the Metropolitan, it would be safer to book as 2 adults/1 child. If you decide to book this hotel, please start your purchase from the HOTWIRE link on this site.

The Toronto West hotel is a match for the Sheraton. The 4* Toronto East hotel I see in my search for 2 adults/0 children is $81 with the following amenities: Fitness, Restaurant, Business, High-Speed Internet. There is more than one possibility for this hotel. However, my search for 3 adults/0 children shows the same amenities and rate for this hotel as your search (the same hotel is $85 for 2 adults/1 child). This hotel is a match for the Westin Harbour Castle. The Sheraton is the closer of the two to the Rogers Centre. I'm afraid that I can't give you any information about parking. If you decide to book one of these hotels, please start your purchase from the Hotwire link on this site.

Parking at the Doubletree is less on Friday and Saturday, but I absolutely agree with Colfax on this one. Suppose you bid $53-$55 this time and are accepted. You would most likely get the Red Lion (when the Crowne Plaza, Doubletree, and Courtyard are selling through PRICELINE, it's usually at a lower rate), where parking is an additional $12. And what will you have gotten for that? A room at a hotel that's well below average by 3* standards, in a less preferred area. I would bid for a hotel downtown before I'd go any higher for a room in the Convention Center area. If you can get something for less than $50, I think you're better off, even after you factor in the higher cost of parking (and you may find cheaper parking in a nearby lot). A 3* bid below $50 will almost certainly not be accepted by a hotel in Northwest Portland or South Waterfront District, so I would try the following PRICELINE strategy: Bid $42 for 3* in Downtown Portland. If rejected, add South Waterfront District and bid $44. If rejected, exit this bid and start a new bid of $46 for 3* Downtown Portland + Northwest Portland. If rejected, add South Waterfront District and bid $48.

The set of amenities for the 3.5* hotel is a match for the Crowne Plaza Toronto Airport, so that would be my guess for that hotel. The 3* is a match for the Holiday Inn Select Toronto Airport. If you decide to book one of these hotels, please start your purchase from the HOTWIRE link on this site.

3 1/2 Star - Toronto Downtown East - smoke free, fitness centre, pool, restaurant, internet, business centre - $65/nt. This is a match for the Delta Chelsea. 3 Star Toronto Downtown West - restaurant - $70/nt. This hotel has not been identified. However, if you change your search parameters to 2 adults/1 child, the 3* hotel in this zone has the following amenities: smoke free, fitness, pool, restaurant, business, high-speed internet. This is a match for the Radisson Admiral. Since the rate is the same, you might as well book as 2 adults/1 child if you decide to go with this hotel. 3 Star Toronto Downtown East - fitness, centre, pool, restaurant, internet, business centre,$70/nt. This is a match for the Novotel Toronto Centre. 4 Star Toronto Downtown West - smoke free rooms, fitness centre, pool, restaurant, business centre, internet, $89/nt. This is a match for the Sheraton Toronto Centre.

Those aren't the hotel's amenities, Verga; that's just Hotwire's general description of what their 3.5* hotels "usually" have. The actual amenities I see are Fitness, Pool, Restaurant, Business, Spa. The amenities and TripAdvisor information are consistent with Le Nouvel Hotel, so that would be my guess. This hotel is rated 3* by PRICELINE, which is why you have to be careful about using HOTWIRE to determine what to bid on Priceline; Hotwire rates many hotels higher than Priceline does.

There's no way to know for sure what you'll get on PRICELINE through Name Your Own Price. If you bid $120 for a Resort in Scottsdale, anything could happen, including getting a room at the Scottsdale Resort and Conference Center at almost twice the regular rate. What are you after? The Royal Palms is among the best reviewed resorts in the Phoenix area (#1 hotel in Phoenix on TripAdvisor). Since you're willing to pay an extra $27/night to stay at the Phoenician, my guess is that you're trying to target this particular property. If so, then PRICELINE is not the right option for you.

Welcome to BetterBidding, Jon. I'm a little stumped myself: your reservation is for 8 nights, but your check-out date appears to be only 2 days after your check-in date. Anyway, my best guess is the Days Inn Vancouver Downtown. If you decide to book this hotel, please start your purchase from the Hotwire link on this site.

Priceline's Convention Center - UNLV zone has been split into two zones: Las Vegas Convention Center and Near Las Vegas Strip East. Las Vegas (Convention Center) 4* Renaissance 3.5* Hilton Las Vegas 3.5* Marriott Suites 3* Courtyard (3275 Paradise Road) 3* Residence Inn Convention Center 2* Homestead Suites Las Vegas (Near Strip East) 4* Hard Rock 3* Alexis Park Resort 3* Embassy Suites 3* Hyatt Place 3* Residence Inn Hughes Center 2* Extended Stay Deluxe East Flamingo 2* Fairfield Inn

When I changed the search parameters to 2 adults/1 child, the 4* hotel in Downtown Vancouver Entertainment District was $132/night and had the following amenities: Suite, Smoke Free, Fitness, Pool, Restaurant, Business, High-Speed Internet, Kitchenette. This is a match for the Westin Grand. If you decide to book this hotel, please start your purchase from the HOTWIRE link on this site.

I think you did the right thing. It's impossible to know what will happen to hotel rates in downtown Toronto between now and the TIFF, but my guess is that they will continue to climb.

Was that $56 hotel on Hotwire in Downtown Toronto East? If so, that was probably the Delta Chelsea, a 3.5* hotel on PRICELINE. There is only one other known 3.5* hotel in Downtown Toronto on PRICELINE, the Hyatt Regency; if that hotel is okay as well, then I suggest that you bid for a 3.5* hotel now. You have seven rebid zones, so you can try the same strategy that thereuare gave you for 4* bidding, except that you'll have to eliminate one of the bids.

It's true that a couple of people were able to book one-night stays within these dates, but both of them locked in months ago (one booked in March, the other in April). I think it's going to be impossible now to get 4* hotel rooms in the $55 range for the entire TIFF, no matter how many ways you split this bid. Given that you're not willing to spend much more than $55/night, what is the minimum star-level that you're willing to bid for to get a room in downtown Toronto? And what alternatives have you considered if these bids fail?

Actually, the Y isn't all that bad (I assume that binarynut is referring to the YWCA Hotel on Beatty St.), but I think I'd rather stay at the Holiday Inn too. The World Police and Fire Games also starts that weekend.